If you don't have a huge amount to put toward an investment portfolio, don't let that stop you. Whatever amount you can safely put away could lead to huge gains over time, especially if you add consistently. Consider that if you'd invested $100 in Amazon stock 10 years ago, you'd have nearly $1,000 today from that one investment alone.
For $100, you can buy about one share each of Roku (ROKU -10.29%) and Global-e Online (GLBE 2.44%). Both could be multi-baggers over the next few years.
1. Roku: the free streaming model
Roku captured millions of viewers, as well as investor attention, when it skyrocketed early in the pandemic. But it suffered a tremendous fall in the aftermath, and now it's trying to build back up.
Its fate has been in line with that of many companies that experienced accelerated demand when people stayed home, developed capabilities to meet that demand, and are now dealing with high comparable sales that are just too high to match. It's also in the middle of a tight streaming market.
But all that doesn't necessarily mean there's an inherent problem with the business. Just about every company deals with challenges at different points; how they deal with them tells you more about the company than the challenges themselves.
In Roku's case, there are a few things that stand out. One is its dual model of hardware and free streaming, which is unique in the streaming industry and differentiates it from the crowd.
The hardware business is smaller, but it's the top operating system in the U.S., beating out competitors like Amazon. Roku resisted putting devices on fire sale when supply chain problems increased costs and inflation caused shoppers to rein in spending. And even though that segment posted decreased sales for several quarters, it's made a comeback and increased in the 2023 first quarter.
The other segment, which relies on advertising to generate sales, posted its first sales decline since Roku went public in the 2023 first quarter. It was down 1% from last year as advertisers pulled back due to their own inflationary-induced budgets.
But other metrics showed a healthy, growing business. Active accounts increased 17% over last year, rising 1.6 million from the 2022 fourth quarter to 71.6 million, and viewing hours increased 20% year over year and consecutively. That's what sets advertiser interest, and Roku is well-positioned to ride this out and be stronger in a stronger economy.
The main thing to watch here is profitability, which has been worsening. Roku became net profitable when sales were high, though, and as it gets back to growth, it should begin to post profits again.
Meanwhile, Roku's stock is still down 28% over the past year, and its shares trade at 2.8 times trailing 12-month sales. Investors sensing the opportunity have already pushed the stock up 55% in 2023, and it could be an incredible holding to own over time.
2. Global-e: a niche e-commerce superstar
Global-e is a business-to-business e-commerce platform offering cross-border solutions. It's a simple, no-brainer model that every online business needs, leading to incredible growth so far. Revenue increased 55% over last year in the 2023 first quarter to $117.6 million.
The Israel-based company managed to post fantastic, double-digit sales growth despite the pressured environment -- and that's perhaps because its clients need its services under these circumstances as well. You might say they need it even more right now as they try to generate higher sales in a sluggish economy. Opening up their services to more markets could make that happen.
In fact, this might position the company even better for a renewed economy. As more clients get on board, Global-e's sales should be that much higher when more shoppers start spending more.
Global-e still isn't profitable, but there are several factors pointing to that happening in the near future. One is that a large chunk of expenses are related to its relationship with Shopify, in the form of warrants from its early investment in the company, and those are set to expire in 2025.
Also, as growth soars and Global-e scales, it's already resulting in improvements. Its gross margin in the first quarter was better than last year, and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) rose from $3.3 million last year to $14.5 million. Finally, Global-e has zero long-term debt and a healthy cash position.
Global-e stock isn't cheap. It's up 95% so far this year, and the shares trade at more than 14 times trailing 12-month sales. But there's a lot of momentum and massive growth potential, and this could be a multi-bagger over the next few years.
